The time has officially come to take down my holiday decor and per usual, it's bittersweet. Yes, I'm technically putting the final nail in the holiday coffin, but I'm also getting my house put back together.

In an effort to "make lemonade" out of this situation, I am sharing my best tips for packing up holiday decorations. These tips will not only make it easier to take down and store your decorations, but will also make next year's rediscovery/decorating process practically seamless.

Lights

When storing lights, wind them up with plugs exposed for easy testing next year and then pack them in gallon-sized ziplocs. This will keep your lights organized and give them their best chance of working come this time next year.

Ornaments

Pack all like ornaments together. I actually did this last year and it made decorating my tree/balancing ornament distribution super easy.

Tree

Once you have removed all lights and ornaments from your tree, wrap it in an old fitted sheet before hauling it outside of your house to minimize your pine needle trail and potential damage that the branches can cause to your walls.

Bows

To keep your bows looking their best, stuff each loop with a little tissue paper before storing them away for the year. In addition, I like to add a label to each bow, detailing where that bow was previously used. This helps to make next years much easier.

Gift Ribbon

I love to elaborately wrap gifts, but alas, nice ribbon can get expensive. My solution? Save that ribbon! I preserve holiday ribbon by rolling up each piece, securing it with a paper clip and then I store all of my holiday ribbon in an old gift box. This way

Garland

If you have garland that can be reused next year (ex. like this), use labels for each strand so that you know where to hang each piece next year. I have numbered my strands of ornament garland for my staircase in ascending order.

Label Your Storage Boxes

Creating box labels will save you so much time next year when you go to pull out all of your holiday decor. Whether you choose to print out or hand write your holiday decoration storage box labels, you will be so happy you took this extra step come this time next year.

It's a great feeling having tackled the holiday clutter and I am looking forward to enjoying a fresh and organized start in 2016! for any questions or comments, don't hesitate to send me an email at redefiningdomestics@gmail.com or post a comment below. I always love hearing from you all!